# **Epigraphic Stratigraphy: is There Any Trace of the Ostrogoths in Early Medieval "Layers" (6th-9th Century)?**

by Flavia Frauzel

The short but significant experiment of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy left politically ephemeral albeit culturally surprisingly durable traces in the peninsula. Among them, epigraphy takes centre stage when discussing decrees, laws, and public documents, which are a direct expression of the rulers' will to gain greater visibility and disseminate their voice. However, epigraphy is also crucial to knowing the names, professions, ideas, and other concepts relating to the ordinary people. This contribution aims to examine a number of issues concerning controversial Germanic names datable between the sixth and seventh century AD, and variably assigned to Ostrogoths, Lombards, and even Carolingians characters; through the lens of these durable materials, which – ironically enough – are monuments both recording contemporary propaganda and everyday life facets, the article will also explore the graphic and epigraphic changes which occurred in Italy between the sixth-ninth centuries.

Early Middle Ages; Late Antiquity; Ostrogoths; Lombards; Germanic Names; Epigraphy; Palaeography.

Flavia Frauzel, CAMNES, Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies, Italy, flavia.frauzel86@ gmail.com

Referee List (DOI 10.36253/fup\_referee\_list) FUP Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (DOI 10.36253/fup\_best\_practice)

Flavia Frauzel, *Epigraphic Stratigraphy: is There Any Trace of the Ostrogoths in Early Medieval "Layers" (6th-9th Century)?*, © Author(s), CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.36253/978-88-5518-664-3.11, in Fabrizio Oppedisano (edited by), *Between Ostrogothic and Carolingian Italy. Survivals, revivals, ruptures*, pp. 149-188, 2022, published by Firenze University Press, ISBN 978-88-5518-664-3 (PDF), DOI 10.36253/978-88-5518-664-3

*Abbreviations*

AE = *L'Année épigraphique. Revue des publications épigraphiques relatives à l'antiquité romaine*, Paris 1888-.

CCSL = Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina.

CIL = *Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, consilio et auctoritate Academiae litterarum regiae Borussicae editum*, Berlin I-XV, 1863-.

CIMAH = *Corpus Inscriptionum Medii Aevi Helvetiae*, V, *Le iscrizioni dei cantoni Ticino e Grigioni fino al 1330*, ed. M. Bernasconi Reusser, Freiburg 1997.

EDCS = Epigraphische Datenbank Clauss – Slaby (<http://www.manfredclauss.de/>).

EDH = Epigraphic Database Heidelberg (<http://edh-www.adw.uni-heidelberg.de/home>).

EDR = Epigraphic Database Roma (<http://www.edr-edr.it/Italiano/index\_it.php>).

ICI = *Inscriptiones christianae Italiae septimo saeculo antiquiores*, Bari 1985-.

ICUR = *Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores*, ed. G.B. De Rossi, 2 voll., Roma 1861-1888; *Supplementum*, ed. I. Gatti, Roma 1905.

ILCV = *Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres*, ed. E. Diehl, I-III, Berlin 1925-1931; *Supplementum*, ed. J. Moreau – H. I. Marrou, Zürich 1967.

InscrIt = *Inscriptiones Italiae*, Roma 1931-

MGH, LL 1 = *Capitularia regum Francorum* (I), ed. A. Boretius, Hannover 1883 (Leges [in Folio], 1).

MGH, Poetae 1 = *Poetae Latini medii aevi Carolini* (I), ed. E. Duemmler, Berlin 1881 (Poetae Latini medii aevi, 1).

MGH, SS rer. Lang. = *Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum, saec. VI-IX*, ed. G. Waitz, Hannover 1878.

PIB I = S. Cosentino, *Prosopografia dell'Italia bizantina, 493-804*, vol. 1, Bologna 1996.

PLRE I = *The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire*, vol. 1, *A.D. 260-395*, ed. A.H.M. Jones – J.R. Martindale – J. Morris, Cambridge-London-New York-Melbourne 1971.

PLRE II = *The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire*, vol. 2, *A.D. 395-527*, ed. J.R. Martindale, Cambridge-London-New York-New Rochelle-Melbourne-Sidney 1980.

PLRE III = *The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire*, vol. 3, *A.D. 527-641*, ed. J.R. Martindale, Cambridge 1992.

SupplIt = *Supplementa Italica*. *Nuova Serie*, Roma 1981-.

#### 1. *Introduction*

Let me start off by asking a deliberately provocative question: has there ever been a real epigraphy of the Ostrogoths? Probably not. It's a well-known fact that in Italy, the few Ostrogoths who wanted and could afford to commemorate themselves on a tombstone or in some other durable material expressed themselves in Latin, respecting all the stylistic conventions of the contemporary epigraphic *habitus*, and that the only way to recognize them is by their peculiar names. How can we therefore investigate the traces left by this people after their formal expulsion from the peninsula following the Gothic War? One way to track the faint traces of the Ostrogoths in the postwar period would be once again to resort to onomastics, detectable in documents, such as the Ravenna Papyri, and in some inscriptions dating from after the sixth century.

In 2019, at the conference *The Legacy of Justinian. The Last War of Roman Italy*<sup>1</sup> , I spoke extensively about Theodenanda, a presumed niece of Theoderic, mentioned on a tombstone preserved in the church of S. Nicola in Genazzano2, but which almost certainly came from Rome, specifically from the Vatican Basilica. However, two other women named Theodenanda are also referred to in two epigraphs. One, very fragmentary, is preserved in Pavia3, the other, complete, was found at the church of S. Pietro a Corte (Salerno)4, and can be dated to the year 566. This latter location – which is known to be linked to the Lombards – and this very early internal dating for a Lombard tombstone, provides the opportunity to tackle a question often debated by scholars, which can be summed up as follows: is this epigraph with a Germanic name attributable to the Ostrogothic years, the Lombard period, or yet another age?

<sup>1</sup> The volume edited by Hendrik Dey and Fabrizio Oppedisano will soon be published. 2 See Frauzel, *Inscriptiones Medii Aevi Italiae*, pp. 95-101 (with bibliography). <sup>3</sup> CIL, V, 6470; ILCV, 3178; Fiebiger, *Inschriftensammlung*, 10; Panazza, *Catalogo delle iscri-*

*zioni*, pp. 236-237, n. 21; Boffo, *Iscrizioni Latine dell'Oltrepò*, pp. 177-180; SupplIt, IX, p. 246 (Boffo, 1992).

<sup>4</sup> Del Pezzo Costabile, *Teodenanda e i Goti*, pp. 93-100; Amarotta, *La cappella palatina di Salerno*, p. 55, note 113; Galante, *Un accesso alla storia di Salerno*, p. 43; Lambert, *Pagine di pietra*, pp. 78-79; Lambert, *Testimonianze di vita dalle iscrizioni*, p. 9, note 22; AE 2008, 309; Lambert, *Pagine di pietra*, pp. 121-124; Lambert, *I documenti epigrafici*, pp. 53-54.

The purpose of this article is, therefore, to select an array of artefacts dating from the end of the sixth-seventh century, variously attributed to one or another "ethnic" horizon, and then to discuss, in much broader terms, the graphic and epigraphic transformations that took place between the eighth and ninth centuries in the Italian peninsula (and elsewhere).

### 2. *Post-war and doubtful Ostrogothic/Lombard inscriptions*

The first examples with which I would like to deal come from Croatia, specifically from the cathedral of Parenzo (the Euphrasian Basilica, from the mid-sixth century), and are obituary graffiti dating from the end of the sixth-seventh centuries, of a man with a clear Gothic anthroponym, Amara5 , and of two women, Burga6 and Richelda7 (Fig. 1, a-b), about whom however there are several doubts; all these graffiti were made on the *opus sectile* decoration of the apse. There is also a marble tombstone, unfortunately damaged, that seems to mention a woman, perhaps named Gunna8 (Fig. 2). The Ostrogoths are known to have exercised control, not only over the Italian peninsula, but also over some areas of present-day Croatia, so it is no surprise to find such evidence in this place.

While we are dealing with the subject of graffiti, at least passing mention should also be made of some names recognized among the countless extemporaneous inscriptions found in the sanctuary of S. Michele Arcangelo on Mount Gargano, including the undeniably Ostrogothic anthroponym Aligernus9 (Fig. 3, a). A second graffiti from the same context, albeit incomplete, may have recorded a second Aligernus10 (Fig. 3, b). The compound name consists of \*alia- «other», and \*gerna-z «eager»11. During the sixth century, the name Aligernus occurs on two other occasions: one, the younger brother of King Theia, who surrendered to Narses in 55412; the other, documented in the epistolary collection of Pope Gregory I the Great in 59813, was an Ostrogoth who lived in Campania

<sup>8</sup> See InscrIt, X, 2, 189. Here, Attilio Degrassi suggested recognizing the name *Utigunna*, although this assumption lacks scholarly consensus.

<sup>5</sup> InscrIt, X, 2, 155; Fiebiger, *Inschriftensammlung*, 23-24; Rugo, *Le iscrizioni*, II, 118. <sup>6</sup> InscrIt, X, 2, 147; Rugo, *Le iscrizioni*, 114c. The name *Burga*, certainly Germanic, shows similarities with the Lombard *Burgu*, but it cannot be ruled out that it may be Gothic, although there are well-founded doubts in this regard. Some characters, such as the *A* with a broken horizontal stroke, and the very broad cursive *R*, although most certainly conditioned by the hard support and the writing instrument, appear to come from a later period, more similar to the late seventh century than to the Ostrogothic Age.

<sup>7</sup> InscrIt, X, 2, 138; Rugo, *Le iscrizioni*, II, 110. This anthroponym could be derived from the Gothic \*rīkja, «kingdom», \*rīka, «powerful, king», and \*hildjō, «battle». However, the spelling <ch> and the palaeographic features apparently refer to a late chronology, namely the seventh century.

<sup>9</sup> Carletti, *Iscrizioni murali*, 1980, p. 70, n. 53. <sup>10</sup> *Ibidem*, p. 37, n. 6. <sup>11</sup> Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, p. 31, n. 18. <sup>12</sup> PLRE III, p. 48; PIB I, p. 125. <sup>13</sup> Gregory the Great, *Epistulae*, IX, 36.

and was the father of a man with a Latin name, Sabinus. It should also be noted that an Aligerna *honesta femina* appears in an epitaph from Suno (Province of Novara), in the parish church of S. Genesio, which can be framed in an earlier chronology (sixth century)14. The name, of East Germanic origin, was fairly widespread even in the Lombard period, as shown by this example, datable on the basis of archaeological data to the seventh century, and, even later, by the Aligernus abbot of Montecassino, who died in 98615.

Also from Southern Italy, specifically in Apulia, comes an artefact of great interest, found on the rod of a silver open ring fibula with the head and neck of an animal. It is an auspicious epigraph bearing the canonical formula *vivas in Deo,* made for a person by the name of Amaliginusi (?)16 which was read with extreme difficulty due to its precarious state of conservation (Fig. 4). The artefact, together with a silver digital ring, is part of the burial objects of an open-pit two-body tomb in Oria, near the "F. Milizia" Middle School in via Strabone. The second tomb of the same type, excavated at the same time, showed no contents. Scholars attributed the two tombs to the end of the sixth-seventh century. The fibula is kept in the National Archaeological Museum (Taranto), but is not on display. The short inscription is introduced by a *signum crucis*, then presents the curious anthroponym and a single *V* alluding to the formula *vivas in Deo*. Could the *Amal*- component perhaps echo an Ostrogothic origin, specifically of the Amali lineage, for the individual mentioned in the inscription? The same question was raised by Donatella Nuzzo in her edition of the piece in the *Inscriptiones Christianae Italiae*. I therefore refer to her contribution for philological and archaeological questions related to the epigraph, and also for a broader overview of the excavation context and the class of artefacts under examination17.

A small marble slab was discovered the catacombs of S. Giovanni in the city of Syracuse at the turn of the twentieth century. The object in question closed a *forma* sepulchre on the floor and mentioned a Giddo, buried on the seventh day from the calends of December (December 25) of an unspecified year18 (Fig. 5). The name Giddo, here declined in the genitive, seems to derive from the Germanic root \*gelða- or \*gelda, «compensation» (Got. Gild, gildan-), common among the Ostrogoths and the Lombards; the reduced form \*gid- is known, from which it is plausible that the name Giddo19 derives. An alternative

<sup>14</sup> Doni, *Inscriptiones antiquae*, 20, 9; Muratori, *Novus Thesaurus*, p. 1965, 11, and p. 1968, 5; CIL, V, 6586; ILCV, 327; Fiebiger, *Inschriftensammlung*, 47; Ferrua, *Escursioni epigrafiche*, p. 12; Mennella, *La cristianizzazione rurale*, p. 159, note 20. <sup>15</sup> *Catalogus abbatum monasterii casinensis* (MGH, SS rer*.* Lang., p. 489). <sup>16</sup> Andreassi, *L'attività archeologica in Puglia*, p. 780; Maruggi, *Le necropoli*, table LXXXI, 2;

D'Angela, *L'altomedioevo in Puglia*, p. 25, n. 30; ICI, XIII, 52, EDR120891; Felle, *La documentazione epigrafica latina*, pp. 612-613. <sup>17</sup> ICI, XIII, 52 (Nuzzo, 2011). <sup>18</sup> Orsi, *Nuovi scavi nelle catacombe*, p. 351; ILCV, 3031; Ferrua, *Note e giunte*, p. 32, n. 94. <sup>19</sup> Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, p. 119; Francovich Onesti, *Vestigia longobarde*,

p. 195.

is that the anthroponym is of African origin, and that it is a corruption/variant of the name Gildo20, famous thanks to the homonymous *comes et magister utriusque militiae per Africam* who lived in the Theodosian Age, rebelled against the Western Empire, was captured and killed in 39821. References are scarce in the internal chronology among the group of tombstones discovered in the catacomb22, written mainly in Greek, although an epigraph dated to the post-consulate of Basil (the Younger?)23 was found in a different area of the hypogeum complex, which makes it possible to date the use of the cemetery at least to the second half of the fifth century but, more likely, to 54224.

Moving to Northern Italy, where the corpus is much more extensive, I would first of all like to highlight the Manifrit inscription (Fig. 6), from the church of S. Vincenzo in Galliano (near Cantù), datable to end of the sixth/ beginning of the seventh century, today preserved in the Museum of Ancient Art of the Sforza Castle in Milan (Room I, left wall)25.

The entire inscription, on a vertical marble slab with a double smooth frame, is crossed lengthwise by a Latin cross with expanded apices, that divides the text into two symmetrical columns; the lower portion of the support is occupied by an *Agnus Dei* bearing the cross and a stylized tree. There are stylistic affinities with a later and higher-quality plaque from S. Giovanni in Conca (Milan), which was definitely made for a Lombard nobleman named Aldo (Fig. 7). From a palaeographic point of view, the tombstone shows vertical capital letters of quite regular shape, engraved with a triangular pointed tool to emphasize the letters. Noteworthy, in line 6, is the numeral *L* drawn like a sort of curved *W*, in form very similar to those seen in the epitaphs of three clearly Ostrogoth characters: Guntelda26 (Como), Wilifara27 (Civitavecchia)

<sup>20</sup> For an overview of the recurrences of the anthroponym in epigraphy, see EDCS08300606 = HD003054 (from Caesarea, current Algeria); EDCS00380676 = HD051655 (from Germany, current Wincheringen); EDCS00380677 = HD051656 (from Germany, current Wincheringen); EDCS47600422 (from Herapel, on the border between modern-day France and Germany).

<sup>21</sup> PLRE I, pp. 395-396, *Gildo*. See also the inscriptions CIL, IX, 4051 (EDCS14805080), and CIL, VI, 41382 (EDR073007; HD024202; EDCS05101912), where Gildo is defined *hostis publi-*

*cus*. <sup>22</sup> Ferrua, *Note e giunte*, pp. 13-62 (annotations, with bibliography, on the entire *corpus*; for more precise bibliographic references on epigraphic studies in Sicily and in particular in Syra-

cuse, see *Ibidem*, pp. 9-12). <sup>23</sup> Orsi, *Nuovi scavi nelle catacombe*, p. 354. <sup>24</sup> Ferrua, *Le iscrizioni datate della Sicilia*, pp. 25-26. <sup>25</sup> Annoni, *Monumenti e fatti politici*, pp. 469-471; Rugo, *Le iscrizioni*, V, 21; Russo, *Studi sulla scultura*, p. 11; Amory, *People and Identity*, p. 392; Sannazaro, *Osservazioni sull'epigrafia*, p. 209; Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, p. 66, n. 183. <sup>26</sup> Allegranza, *Antichissima leggenda*, p. 12; Allegranza, *De sepulchris christianis*, p. 166; Ro-

velli, *Storia di Como descritta dal marchese*, vol. 1, p. 329; Bernasconi, *Le antiche lapidi*, n. XVIII, p. 49; CIL, V, 5415; Monneret de Villard, *Iscrizioni cristiane della provincia di Como*, p. 78; Fiebiger – Schmidt, *Inschriftensammlung zur Geschichte*, 232. <sup>27</sup> Le Blant, *Inscriptions chrétiennes*, I, p. 46, note 20; ICUR, I, 1093; CIL, XI, 3567; Calisse,

*Storia di Civitavecchia*, p. 45, note 3, and p. 727, note 3; Fiebiger – Schmidt, *Inschriftensammlung zur Geschichte*, 231; ILCV, 3926a; ICI, II, 4; Fiocchi Nicolai, *I cimiteri paleocristiani*, pp. 41-42.

and Berevulfus28 (Voghera). The anthroponym consists of two components: the first appears to be the Germanic \*magina-, «power», whereas \*manna-, «man», is considered more improbable; the second is friþu-z, «peace»29.

The name would therefore seem to be attributable to a man of Gothic origin, despite the obviously late chronology of the inscription. Nicoletta Francovich Onesti wrote in this regard: «Siccome l'uomo fu sepolto a 52 anni, era nato probabilmente prima del 568 e quindi poteva avere un nome di ascendenza gotica, benché la forma fonetica abbia un aspetto piuttosto longobardo; infatti, come nel caso di *Guntelda*, la grafia è tardiva e sostanzialmente longobardizzata»30. I tend to favour the assumption of Nicoletta Francovich Onesti, although it should be noted that Manifrit is regarded as Lombard by most scholars31, although this still remains a moot point.

#### 3. *The epigraph of Wideramn and similar plaques from Lombardy and Piedmont*

The Lombard area has yielded some other notable materials, many of which, such as the tombstone of Guntelda, Basilius and Guntione (grandmother, son, and grandson respectively) and the Manifrit example, noted in the previous paragraph, which "oscillates" between the Ostrogothic and the Lombard horizons. Perhaps the most significant case comes from the Castelseprio complex, a *castrum* constructed in Late Antiquity (with some pre-existing Roman remains), where civilians also most certainly lived, and where various religious structures of enormous archaeological and historical artistic interest32 were erected.

Here, in 184533, the important inscription of Wideramn was discovered, covering a privileged tomb where some spurs in gilded copper were also found, which were unfortunately lost (Fig. 8)34. In the absence of detailed stratigraphic data, it is even doubtful whether the epigraph comes from the church of S. Maria *foris portas* or from the cemetery area pertaining to S. Giovanni Evangelista, where many other burial sites have been discovered and excavated in more recent times35; Bognetti speaks of the «atrio di S. Maria»36,

<sup>28</sup> Sanguineti, *Seconda appendice*, p. 209, n. 33; CIL, V, 7414; ILCV, 2829; Fiebiger – Schmidt, *Inschriftensammlung zur Geschichte*, 230; Rugo, *Le iscrizioni*, V, 149; Mennella, *Le iscrizioni paleocristiane di Tortona*, p. 128, n. 12; ICI, VII, 10; EDR010863; EDCS05400664. 29 Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, p. 66, n. 183. <sup>30</sup> *Ibidem*. <sup>31</sup> For example: Russo, *Studi sulla scultura paleocristiana*, p. 11; Sannazaro, *Osservazioni* 

*sull'epigrafia*, p. 209. <sup>32</sup> On the whole, see Bognetti, *Castelseprio. Guida storico-artistica*; Soprintendenza per i Beni

Archeologici della Lombardia, *Parco archeologico*; De Marchi, *Castelseprio e Torba.* <sup>33</sup> Corbellini, *Il museo lapidario*, p. 126. <sup>34</sup> Ferraiuolo, *Epigrafi dal cenobio*, p. 89. <sup>35</sup> Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Lombardia, *Parco archeologico*, pp. 23-26; De

Marchi, *Castelseprio e Torba*, pp. 62-68. <sup>36</sup> Bognetti, *Castelseprio. Guida storico-artistica*, Fig. 18.

but nineteenth century accounts do not support this claim37. In any case, this character is traditionally considered a sort of "Lombard founder" of one of the two buildings, given the importance attributed to his burial, and the inscription was unanimously assigned to the first half of the seventh century. The name derives from the components wiðu-, «wood», and hraƀna-z, «crow»38, the use of which is documented by both the Ostrogoths and the Lombards39.

Another issue to consider, aside the anthroponyms and formulaic language still firmly associated with the epigraphic conventions of Late Antiquity, is the peculiar iconographic apparatus: in the top portion, the slab is in fact decorated with a triple Christogram, which has been interpreted as a strong reference to the Trinitarian dogma, plausibly reaffirmed following Wideramn's conversion from Arianism to Catholicism. Unfortunately, even this doctrinal detail sheds no light on the origin of the man, given that both the Ostrogoths and the Lombards had adhered to the Arian creed at different times in their history. However, I believe that an Ostrogothic origin of the character cannot be ruled out *a priori*, even considering the area of provenance, the nature of the context of Castelseprio – a *castrum* occupied and reoccupied several times during the sixth-seventh centuries – as well as the chronology and quality of the tombstone, which displays various affinities with other inscribed plates, highly oblong, coming from Lombardy and neighbouring Piedmont, datable between the end of the sixth and seventh century.

The samples presented here are almost always of poorer quality than that of the Wideramn inscription, but still offer insights into the production of the lapidary workshops during the period immediately preceding the creation of this artefact with a controversial interpretation.

The first example is the sepulchral inscription of Berevulfus, *vir venerabilis* and presbyter, who probably lived for about 70 years, buried on 30 December of an unspecified year of the sixth century (Fig. 9). It was found a few months or years before December 1918, according to the account handed down by Patroni40: «Alcuni mesi or sono mi venne riferito che in Voghera trovavasi una epigrafe paleocristiana, rinvenuta da non molto tempo». With the help of the local Royal Inspector of Excavations and Monuments, M. Baratta, Patroni also managed to obtain a photograph of the inscription, which was «depositata presso il Municipio di Voghera»41. It comes from S. Ilario in Staffora42, an ancient place of worship located close to the river of the same

<sup>37</sup> Corbellini, *Il museo lapidario*, p. 126. <sup>38</sup> Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, pp. 121-122. <sup>39</sup> Francovich Onesti, *Vestigia longobarde*, pp. 202 and 220. <sup>40</sup> Patroni, *Epigrafe paleocristiana di un* Presbyter Berevulfus, p. 169. <sup>41</sup> *Ibidem*. <sup>42</sup> The date of the building's foundation remains a matter of debate: some scholars attribute it to the early Christian Age, and others to the Lombard Age. However, it seems clear that there was a pre-Romanesque phase – the most visible even today – which was followed by numerous alterations and phases of abandonment/desecration, which eventually culminated in the reuse of the building (popularly referred to as the "Red Church") as a Shrine of Cavalry Arms, under

name, which flows in the eastern area of Voghera, plausibly providing a natural boundary to the Roman city of Forum Iulii Iriensium, which was later renamed Voghera. Although there is a lack of archaeological and topographical data on the area, it would still seem that the church was located in ancient times on the outskirts of Iria.

The artefact consists of an oblong-shaped limestone slab with a smooth writing surface, which has survived almost intact except for a jagged fracture affecting the lower margin: it cannot be ruled out that there were one or two lines written below, bearing a consular date. In the thickness of the stone have been observed two holes left from ancient grips, plausibly original43.

Berevulfus is a compound name consisting of \*bera-, «bear», and \*wulfa-z, «wolf»44; the numeral is probably to be understood as the link between a highly stylized *L* (top left) and a big, central X sharing a trait with both the *L* and another smaller *X*.

The prestige of the man, defined as *vir venerabilis*, is reflected in the highly refined inscription, similar in morphology and content to the inscriptions found in nearby Tortona (see below), but which is altogether of far better quality.

Unfortunately, the details of the discovery are unknown, so there is no way to ascertain whether the artefact was found *in situ* or reused. However, one may be certain that it belongs to S. Ilario, and I think it makes sense to focus on this dedication. St. Hilary of Poitiers (assuming the chapel was named after him and not a namesake) is a saint who, given his fierce opposition to Arianism45, may have been chosen with deliberate intent to re-inaugurate a church that was formerly "compromised" by the heresy of Arius, of which Berevulfus would seem to have been a prominent representative.

The second example comes from Tortona: it is the funerary inscription of Sendefara46, who died at the age of 35 on 13 January 541, under the consulate of Basilius (Fig. 10). It is an almost intact grey marble slab, with an elongated rectangular shape that has a semi-circular gap near the left margin, which pre-existed the written text (one notes that lines 9-10 are offset from the rest of the text to follow the gap). The left margin, which affects the first letters of some lines, was instead reset after the inscription had already been made.

a 1952 resolution. See Patroni, *Epigrafe paleocristiana di un* Presbyter Berevulfus, pp. 170-171; Falciola, *La chiesa dei SS. Ilario e Giorgio*, pp. 88-96; Bono, *S. Ilario: la chiesa più antica*, pp. 20-24; Merlo Grado, "*Capella cum adiacente parrochia*", pp. 325-386; Scarrione, *La chiesa di* 

*S. Ilario*, pp. 33-70; Merlo Grado, *Forme di religiosità*, pp. 83-146. <sup>43</sup> Patroni, *Epigrafe paleocristiana di un* Presbyter Berevulfus, p. 169. 44 Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, p. 39, n. 62. <sup>45</sup> Nor is there any certainty about the authorship of the *de Trinitate* (or *de fide contra arianos*), a doctrinal work of seminal importance in the context of the debate on Arius' positions on the nature of Christ.

<sup>46</sup> Sanguineti, *Seconda appendice alle iscrizioni romane*, p. 209, n. 33; CIL, V, 7414; ILCV, 2829; Fiebiger – Schmidt, *Inschriftensammlung zur Geschichte*, 230; Rugo, *Le iscrizioni*, V, 149; Mennella, *Le iscrizioni paleocristiane di Tortona*, p. 128, n. 12; ICI, VII, 10; EDR010863; EDCS05400664; Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, n. 253.

Mommsen mistakenly believed the artefact to be divided into two fragments, the largest of which was found outside Tortona, while the shorter incipit, when the *CIL* V was released (1877), was apparently located at «Genuae (…) apud societatem»47. In reality, only a cast of the original arrived in Genoa48. Sanguineti reports that the epigraph was found by Cesare di Negro «fuori Tortona»49. Until a few years ago, it was attached to the left wall n. 7 of the Christian lapidary in the Archaeological Museum of Tortona, inventory item n. 125350. Today the collection is fragmented and awaits relocation to a new museum.

The possibility that the plaque should be dated to 480, the year of the consulate of Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius iunior51, looks improbable both due to the onomastics of the deceased and the palaeographic features of the inscription.

The female anthroponym Sendefara consists of two components: \*sinþa-, «path», and \*faro, «journey»52.

The material aspects, formulaic conventions, and some palaeographic elements of the inscription, allows us to include the Sendefara epigraph in a rather homogeneous group53 of Late Antique inscriptions discovered in Tortona and/or its surrounding areas, unfortunately almost all lacking a specific archaeological context. There are at least nine tombstones54 featuring an elongated slab shape (in two cases the shape is almost quadrangular, for example in Fig. 11, n. 4) and the small size, the incipit *b(onae) m(emoriae)* which is followed by *hic requiescit in pace*, and frequent reference to the consular date. Palaeography sometimes appears to be at variance between one specimen and another (Fig. 11, n. 2), or between one "subgroup" and another, more or less refined (Fig. 11, nn. 1 and 5), but in my opinion it could be a matter of different hands from the same *atelier*.

Aside from the specific features of the plaque, I therefore consider very likely the presence of one (or more than one?) lapidary workshops operating in the city or in the Tortona area, which served both the local inhabitants and, at least in one case, the Ostrogothic population.

It remains unclear to which kind of tomb this type of slab should be associated, but I would like to point out an item of particular interest found

<sup>47</sup> CIL, V, 7417.

<sup>48</sup> ICI, VII, p. 13. <sup>49</sup> Sanguineti, *Seconda appendice alle iscrizioni romane*, p. 209. <sup>50</sup> ICI, VII, p. 12. <sup>51</sup> Cappelli, *Cronologia*, p. 210. <sup>52</sup> Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*, pp. 84-85, n. 253. <sup>53</sup> For editions, bibliography, and photographic reproductions, see EDR010665; 010674; 106596; 106702; 106765; 106793; 107546. Although these plates are more squared in shape, the tombstones in EDR010675 and 010676 should be added to the group.

<sup>54</sup> On the early Christian epigraphy of Tortona, see Mennella, *Le iscrizioni paleocristiane*, pp. 105-229, and ICI, VII, by the same author, pp. 3-118 (with updates and *Instrumentum*).

in some samples of the group, including the above-mentioned Sendefara inscription: the presence of a semi-circular hole near one of the margins of each slab, which, I believe, derives from the cutting of pre-existing funerary stones (*cippi*) into two, four or more sections – this also explains the pseudo-quadrangular shape of at least two artefacts – to obtain these smaller tombstones. In one slab, on the other hand, there is a pronounced concavity near the lower margin, in an almost central position (see Fig. 11, n. 6).

Di Negro's laconic notation55 on the discovery of the Sendefara inscription outside Tortona would seem to leave no room for criticism about the archaeological context where the epigraph was originally supposed to be exhibited, but it alludes to the presence of a burial (or rather a necropolis?) in the suburbs of Tortona or the surrounding countryside. Unless we think of a large displacement of the slab, the Sendefara tombstone, therefore, seems to refer to a non-urban or peri-urban area. Near ancient Dertona there are at least two necropolises, one already Roman and then in use between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, with the other becoming active during the Christian Era in the church of S. Simone, both adjacent to Via Emilia56.

#### 4. *Survival and changes in epigraphic and palaeographic features between the 7th-8th centuries*

Aside from the affinities between these Lombard and Piedmontese samples with Wideramn's inscription, at the turn of the sixth and seventh centuries, graphic shapes and forms began to undergo profound changes in the fully Lombard Age, especially from the second half of the seventh century onwards.

Decorativism, verticalization and *scriptio continua* begin to emerge as the prevailing features, also reflecting a change in the clients and users of the epigraphic medium57. These characteristics are illustrated in some splendid plaques of nobles, queens, kings, and abbesses of the time (Figg. 12-15). Often the inscriptions of the Lombard elites are also written in verse and influenced by the poetic *topoi* of leading figures of the time, such as Paul the Deacon58 and later Alcuin and Venantius Fortunatus59, for the poems of the Carolingian Age.

Moreover, even in the Ostrogothic Age there were some well-known cases of epigraphic texts elaborated with the contribution of intellectuals of the

<sup>55</sup> See Sanguineti, *Seconda appendice alle iscrizioni romane*, p. 209. <sup>56</sup> Cera, *La Via Postumia*, pp. 165-166 (including a bibliography). <sup>57</sup> For some aspects of these monumental inscriptions, cf. Ferraiulo, *Epigrafi dal cenobio*, pp. 59-68, and also pp. 99-128.

<sup>58</sup> For example, the epitaphs for the queen Ansa (Paul the Deacon, *Carmina*, 8 [MGH, Poetae I, pp. 45-46]) and for Duke Arechis II of Benevento (see Lambert, *La produzione epigrafica*, pp. 291-322).

<sup>59</sup> See, for instance, the funerary inscription of the priest Tafo (Banti, *Considerazioni a proposito di alcune epigrafi*, p. 172; Favreau, *Epigraphie Médiévale*, pp. 296-297).

time. I would like to note, for example, the famous inscriptions of the reclamation of the marshes of the Decennovium, the complex text of which is the work of Cassiodorus60, but whose graphic quality does not appear to be particularly accurate, compared to that of other Theoderician inscriptions from Rome or Ravenna: it is in fact plausible that the marble slabs were engraved by local medium-level workshops, operating in the Terracina area, on behalf of Caecina Mavortius Basilius Decius61 (Figg. 16, a-b).

Certain traditions that we could define as "Late Antique", such as the horizontal development of the inscriptions, the loose layout of the letters, and the use of certain forms, however, seem to persist even in the fully Lombard Age: see, for example, the foundation epigraph of Civitas Nova, found West of the ancient settlement of Mutina, by King Liutprand (early decades of the eighth century) and kept in Modena, in the Museo Lapidario Estense (Fig. 17)62. It is easy to imagine that some workshops were more traditional than others, and perpetuated older models, as seems evident from the comparison of two artefacts of very distant chronology, which I will discuss here. The first (Fig. 18) is a damaged funerary epigraph from the oratory of S. Martino in Morbio Superiore (Canton Ticino) and datable to 519 thanks to the mention of the consul Flavius Eutharicus Cillica, husband of Amalasuintha, daughter of Theoderic63. Outside the epigraphic mirror, near the left margin, there is a diamond pattern engraved with irregularities and a shallow groove. A large Latin cross, carved with a very deep groove (perhaps to accommodate a metal sheet or other type of decoration, such as painting or glass paste), stands out between the lattice and the text, extending to flank all the lines of the inscription except the last one (line 6), obtained beyond the base of the cross and offset from the rest of the epigraph. A dove (or rather a clumsy peacock?) is placed between the left arm and the apex of the cross.

The second example comes from the abbey of Leno (Brescia, Fig. 19), commemorates an anonymous abbot, and has been variably dated to the first or second half of the ninth century64. According to a recent hypothesis65, mainly based on palaeographic elements, the piece would actually date back to the late Lombard Age, being perhaps reworked or redecorated in the Carolingian

<sup>60</sup> See Giardina, *Cassiodoro politico*, pp. 76-78. <sup>61</sup> For the editions of the four slabs (A+B+C+D\*), being the D\* a later copy (*inscriptio novicia*), see CIL, X, 6850 (A), 6851 (B), 6852 (C), p. 690 (D\*); ILCV, 35 and 778; ILS, 827; De La Blanchère, *Terracine*, pp. 195-197 (A); Fiebiger – Schmidt, *Inschriftensammlung zur Geschichte*, 193; Coppola, *Terracina. Il museo e le collezioni*, nn. 92 (C) and 30 (D\*); Bianchini, *Sulle iscrizioni di Mesa*, p. 118; Fauvinet-Ranson, *Decor civitatis, decor Italiae*, p. 73; Giardina, *Cassiodoro politico*, pp. 76-78 (A+B, with extensive bibliography); Guerrini, Theorericus rex *nelle testimonianze*, pp. 141-146 and 168-171 (A+B+C+\*D); EDCS21900003 (A+B); EDCS21900005 (C). <sup>62</sup> Patetta, *Studi storici e note*, pp. 315-330. <sup>63</sup> Rugo, *Le iscrizioni*, V, 48; CIMAH, V, pp. 30-32; Francovich Onesti, *I nomi degli ostrogoti*,

n. 94; *I Goti. Catalogo della mostra*, p. 369, Fig. V.1. <sup>64</sup> Aimone, *Note di epigrafia piemontese*, pp. 108-109; Ferraiuolo, *Epigrafi dal cenobio*, pp.

<sup>41-42.</sup>

<sup>65</sup> De Rubeis, *Modelli impaginativi*, pp. 63-64.

years. Whatever the case, if we observe the decorative motif, present on both margins, it is the same as the much older inscription from Morbio Superiore, here, however, rendered in a much more refined manner, given the different commissioning of the two slabs (an ordinary citizen in the former case, an abbot in the latter). This comparison makes it clear that certain styles and certain decorative motifs circulated among the stone workshops in Northern Italy for centuries and were handed down from generation to generation, showing often "hybrid artefacts" both in terms of decoration and writing, which are thus very difficult to date and include within a specific cultural/ethnic framework. In the words of Flavia De Rubeis: «Ma nell'insieme, esse sono scritture in fase di transizione, da un sistema dal tracciato oblungo verso un sistema di recupero totale della capitale epigrafica di ascendenza classica»66.

#### 5. *The Carolingian Graphic Reform and its effects on epigraphy*

These "echoes from classic epigraphy" became apparent in the ninth century, especially in its second half. And in terms of monastic commissions67, which between the seventh and eighth centuries acted as a driving force for the development of new graphic forms, borrowed from contemporary book production, I think it is interesting to mention another important piece from the abbey of Leno. This is the epitaph of Anselmus68, who died in the year 877, and contains an obsolete indication of the lunar cycle, much more frequent in early Christian epigraphs (fourth-sixth centuries) than in the ninth century, and clearly inserted to emphasize the *dies natalis* of the deceased. What also catches the eye is the airy and accurate layout of the tombstone; as Marco Sannazaro wrote69: «La cura con la quale è stata pensata questa epigrafe si ritrova anche nella scelta di distendere le poche righe di testo su tutta la superficie della lastra, ricorrendo a spaziature molto ampie tra le linee di scrittura. È un sistema che richiama il trattamento di alcune scritte monumentali a tutta pagina di codici coevi, che forse hanno ispirato l'elegante soluzione adottata» (Fig. 20, a-b).

These considerations, with which I agree, are a direct consequence of what has been defined as the Carolingian Graphic Reform, that is, a specific royal programme to make the writing – primarily in books – standardized, clearer, legible, and usable. The king declared it in the *Admonitio generalis* of 789: «Et si opus est euangelium psalterium et missale scribere, perfectae aetatis homines scribant cum omni diligentia»70. The aim was above all to

<sup>66</sup> *Ibidem*. <sup>67</sup> For this complex and fascinating branch of Medieval Epigraphy, see Ferraiuolo, *Epigrafi dal cenobio*. <sup>68</sup> Sannazaro, *Le iscrizioni paleocristiane*, pp. 343-347 (with further bibliography). <sup>69</sup> *Ibidem*, p. 347. <sup>70</sup> *Capitularia regum Francorum*, 71 (MGH, LL 1, p. 65).

avoid doctrinal misunderstandings of sacred writings, often caused by the difficulty of scribes to read, interpret, and transcribe certain writings of the time (such as the complex "insular" writing from Ireland, to mention just one example). From this, therefore, a new type of writing would derive, the Carolingian minuscule (or: *minuscola carolina*), which would become widespread across the territories of the Frankish Empire and would also have an impact on epigraphic conventions.

Sometimes, this almost perfect imitation of ancient epigraphic models led to misinterpretations of the inscriptions' chronology, and even to label them as fake epigraphy from the Renaissance (it is the case of some papal plaques from the end of the eighth and the first half of the ninth centuries, as we will see below, and of several funerary *carmina* dedicated to Carolingian kings)71.

Such a confusion is very clear in the following case-study: to return to the onomastic question and the doubts about the "ethnic" attribution of some Germanic anthroponyms, I would like to note an inscription for the burial of a three-year-old child, Evols*, filius comitis Hirice*, found in the eighteenth century in S. Lorenzo in Caraglio (Cuneo, Fig. 21)72; initially these names were considered Ostrogothic73 and the artefact was dated to the sixth century, but more recently Hiric has been recognized as an Alemannic name74, and the inscription assigned to the Carolingian Age (it has in fact been proposed to identify Hiric, or better Henricus/Erik, who died in 799, as the brother of Hildegard, third wife of Charlemagne)75. The issue is still controversial, also due to the graphic aspects of the piece, with capital letters with a very clear and "classical-like" appearance, which probably influenced scholars who have suggested a dating from Late Antiquity. However, I believe that the characters of this inscription are fully consistent with the Carolingian Graphic Reform which, as noted above, also spread to lapidary workshops.

From the end of the eighth century onwards, in fact, the two dimensions of book and epigraphic writings coexist and interlink in an even closer way, also considering that frequently – but not exclusively – the clients of both products (codes and inscriptions) were the same: the monks. This is evident if, for example, we compare a painted inscription from the abbey of Farfa, and some characters from contemporary codices (Figg. 22 and 23, a-b-c)76. The same remarks can be made for many other Early Medieval monasteries: among them, the cases of S. Vincenzo al Volturno77, S. Colombano di Bobbio78,

<sup>71</sup> De Rubeis, *Modelli impaginativi*, p. 63, note 7 (with extensive bibliography). <sup>72</sup> Durandi, *Delle antiche città di Pedona*, pp. 29-30; Promis, *Storia dell'antica Torino*, pp. 103- 105; Cipolla, *Appunti sulla storia d'Asti*, 1, p. 120; Barelli, *Il primo conte conosciuto*, pp. 53-54;

Coccoluto, *Appunti sulle epigrafi altomedievali*, pp. 383-385, Fig. 5; 73 Promis, *Storia dell'antica Torino*, pp. 103-105; Cipolla, *Appunti sulla storia d'Asti*, p. 120. <sup>74</sup> Bordone, *Un'attiva minoranza etnica nell'alto medioevo*, pp. 27-28. <sup>75</sup> Barelli, *Il primo conte conosciuto*, pp. 53-54. <sup>76</sup> See Ferraiuolo, *Epigrafi dal cenobio*, pp. 94-96. <sup>77</sup> Ferraiuolo, *Epigrafi dal cenobio*, pp. 152-167. <sup>78</sup> *Ibidem*, pp. 129-142.

and Montecassino79 are probably the most renowned and documented for the centuries in question, but the examples of this "hybrid writing" are numerous and ever-growing, and not only limited to the monastic context80.

If epigraphic capital writing often seems to imitate the *incipit* writings of the time, sometimes we see the reverse phenomenon: it is the inscriptions that influence the book writings. A case in point is the manuscript MSS Latin 2, Bible, f. 1v, produced at the abbey of Saint-Amand in the years 871-877, and kept in Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Fig. 24), where the layout and the quality of letters look like a copy "on parchment" of the world-wide famous and much discussed epitaph of Pope Hadrian I († 795) preserved in St. Peter's in the Vatican (Fig. 25).

However, I would like to point out that exactly in the same years in which a workshop (from beyond the Alps)81 created a masterpiece such as the funerary inscription of Pope Hadrian I, another workshop (in Rome) produced the most "eccentric" characters, in palaeographic terms, in the epigraphic panorama of the early Middle Ages: this is a donation plaque by a prominent person, a notary, for an important church, S. Maria in Cosmedin (Fig. 26), thus not an ordinary citizen82. This demonstrates the extreme "particularism" that characterized the writings – on any medium – of the centuries in question, and the fundamental role that the client and their economic resources played on the final product.

If the effects of the Carolingian Graphic Reform can still be seen in the famous and controversial epigraph of the years of Pope Paschal I († 824) mentioning the 2.300 bodies of martyrs moved from the catacombs of the Roman suburbs to the church of S. Prassede (Fig. 27)83, it is evident from the mid-ninth century inscriptions, also of papal commission, that this exceptional period did not last very long. Already in the tombstones of the years of Pope Leo IV († 855), coming from the newly-founded city of Leopoli-Cencelle84 and from the Civitas Leoniana85 that surrounded the Vatican area after an attack by the Saracens in 846 (Figg. 28-29), the characters look decidedly closer to what was seen in the epigraphy of the Lombard Age, although less vertical, with more expanded serifs and a more airy layout on average. It is certain that even in this rapidly evolving and changing environment, the influence from book writing did not cease and indeed became ever more profound (Fig. 30).

91.

<sup>79</sup> *Ibidem*, pp. 168-187. <sup>80</sup> See, for example, Franco, *Scrittura epigrafica e scrittura dei documenti*, pp. 11-72. 81 See Story *et al*., *Charlemagne's black marble*, p. 158, Fig. 1; Caldelli, *Sull'iscrizione*, pp. 49-

<sup>82</sup> De Rubeis, *Epigrafi a Roma dall'età classica*, pp. 110-111. <sup>83</sup> For a picture of the debated plaque, see Gallio, *La basilica*, p. 21. <sup>84</sup> Ermini Pani – Somma – Stasolla, *Forma e vita di una città medievale*, pp. 14-17. <sup>85</sup> Bianchi, *La Civitas Leoniana*, pp. 148-152.

## 6. *Conclusions*

At the conclusion of this fleeting excursus on epigraphy in Italy between the end of the sixth and the ninth centuries, and beyond the territorial limitations and various historical events to which each part of the peninsula was subject, we can observe some general phenomena.

1) Within the seventh century, which is also the "maximum" limit of our ability to identify Ostrogothic anthroponyms in epigraphy, we witness changes in the epigraphic *habitus* linked to late antique styles, especially because of the "new" and disruptive presence of the Lombards on the Italian peninsula. 2) The progressive and increasingly evident cross-contamination between epigraphy and book writing, given the presence of new vectors and users of the inscriptions, specifically the monks and, albeit to a lesser extent, the ruling class and the Lombard nobility. The graphic and epigraphic landscape is profoundly changed, with a clear acceleration after the end of the Gothic War, with profound repercussions in all mediums of writing, including stone, parchment, and codex. 3) Another breakthrough occurs with the Carolingian Graphic Reform, of short and ephemeral duration – like the dynasty itself – but successful in the long run, as witnessed by the permanence of font that we all still use, "Times New Roman", based on the *minuscola carolina*. In any case, the privileged relationship, or rather the mutual influence and reciprocal exchange between book and epigraphic writings had by then become a consolidated phenomenon, destined to last through all the centuries of the Middle Ages.

Fig. 1, a. Parenzo, Cathedral, *Burga* (InscrIt X, 2, 147).

Fig. 1, b. Parenzo, Cathedral, *Richelda* (InscrIt X, 2, 138).

Fig. 2. Parenzo, *Gunna* (?) (InscrIt X, 2, 149).

Fig. 3, a. Sanctuary of S. Michele Arcangelo on Mount Gargano, *Aligernus* (Carletti, *Iscrizioni murali*, n. 53, p. 70, Table VI).

Fig. 3, b. Sanctuary of S. Michele Arcangelo on Mount Gargano, *Aligernus* (?) (Carletti, *Iscrizioni murali*, n. 6, p. 37).

Fig. 4 Oria (Brindisi), from a tomb, *Amaliginusi* (ICI, XIII, 52).

Fig. 5. Syracuse, catacombs of S. Giovanni, *Giddo* (Orsi, *Nuovi scavi nelle catacombe*, p. 351, Fig. 11).

Fig. 6. Galliano (Cantù), from the church of S. Vincenzo, *Manifrit* (photo by F. Frauzel; scale: 2,5 cm per each square).

Fig. 7. Milan, Museo d'Arte Antica del Castello Sforzesco, funerary inscription of a nobleman, *Aldo*, second half of the 7th Century, from S. Giovanni in Conca.

Fig. 8. Milan, Museo d'Arte Antica del Castello Sforzesco, funerary inscription of *Wideramn*, from Castelseprio.

Fig. 9. Voghera, S. Ilario in Staffora, *Berevulfus* (ICI, VII, 136).

Fig. 10. Tortona, *Sendefara* (ICI, VII, 10).

Fig. 11 Inscriptions from the area of Tortona, to be compared to the plaques of *Berevulfus* and *Sendefara* (Figs. 9-10) and to the inscription of *Wideramn* (Castelseprio, Fig. 8). From the left: ICI, VII, 54; 5; 17; 20; 10; 15.

Fig. 12. Pavia, Musei Civici, epitaph of queen *Ragintruda*, circa 740-750.

Fig. 13. Bobbio, Abbey of S. Colombano, epitaph of *Cumianus*, 8th century.

Fig. 14. Pavia, San Salvatore, epitaph of King Cunipert, year 700.

Fig. 15. Pavia, epitaph of the abbess Cuniperga, daughter of King Cunipert, first half of the 8th century.

Fig. 16, a. Posta di Mesa di Pontinia (Latina), plaque celebrating the reclamation of the marshes of the *Decennovium* (photo by P. Guerrini).

Fig. 16, b. Posta di Mesa di Pontinia (Latina), plaque celebrating the reclamation of the marshes of the Decennovium (photo by P. Guerrini).

Fig. 17. Modena, foundation epigraph of Civitas Nova by King Liutprand (courtesey of the Ministero della Cultura – Gallerie Estensi).

Fig. 18. Morbio Superiore (Canton Ticino), funerary inscription with the consular name *Eutharic*/*Cillica*.

Fig. 19. Brescia, funerary inscription of an abbot of the monastery of Leno (©Archivio fotografico Civici Musei di Brescia-Fotostudio Rapuzzi).

Fig. 20, b. St. Gallen Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 281, *Copy of the Collectanea ex Augustino in epistolas Pauli*, produced in the Monastery of St. Gall between 872-883.

Fig. 20, a. Leno, epitaph of *Anselmus*.

Fig. 21. Caraglio, funerary inscription of *Evols* (Gazzera, *Delle iscrizioni cristiane*, Table II, 5).

Fig. 22. Farfa Abbey, fragment of a medieval fresco of an abbot, with painted inscription (Ferraiuolo, *Epigrafi dal cenobio*, p. 95, fig. 51).

Fig. 23, a. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MSS Latin 2195, Cassiodorus, *Expositio Psalmorum*, f. 9v, produced in the Abbey of Saint-Denis around 800-810.

Fig. 23, b. St. Gallen Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 348, Gelasian Remedius-Sacramentary, c. 32, produced in the Monastery of St. Gall around 800.

Fig. 23, c. München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 14379, Gregorius I papa, *Homiliae (I-XX) in Evangelium*, f. 3r, produced in Murbach (N-E France), around 800.

Fig. 24. MSS Latin 2, Bible, f. 1v, produced in the Abbey of Saint-Amand in the years 871-877 and kept in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Fig. 25. Vatican City, Saint Peter, Epitaph of pope Hadrian I (elaboration of Silvagni, *Monumenta Epigraphica*, Table II, 6, by F. Frauzel).

Fig. 26. Rome, Basilica of S. Maria in Cosmedin, inscription of *Gregorius notarius*, dated between 772-795 (De Rubeis, *Epigrafi a Roma dall'età classica*, p. 111).

Fig. 27. Rome, basilica of S. Prassede, epigraph of the years of pope Paschal I (817-824). Particular (photo by F. Frauzel).

Fig. 28. Leopoli-Cencelle (VT), foundation epigraph by pope Leo IV, year 854 (elaboration of Silvagni, *Monumenta Epigraphica*, Table XV, 5, by P. Guerrini).

Fig. 29, a. Epigraph of the *Civitas Leoniana* (Bianchi, *La civitas Leoniana*, p. 148).

Fig. 29, b. Epigraph of the *Civitas Leoniana* (Bianchi, *La civitas Leoniana*, p. 149).

Fig. 29, c. Epigraph of the *Civitas Leoniana* (Bianchi, *La civitas Leoniana*, p. 149).

Fig. 30. Epigraph of the *Civitas Leoniana* (Bianchi, *La civitas Leoniana*, p. 152).

# **Works cited**


P. Falciola, *La chiesa dei SS. Ilario e Giorgio in Voghera*, in «Ultrapadanum», 10 (1956), 4, pp. 88-96.


*I Goti*, Catalogo della mostra, Milano, Palazzo Reale, 28 gennaio - 8 maggio 1994, Milano 1994*.* Gregory the Great, *Epistulae*, ed. D. Norberg, Turnhout 1982 (CCSL 140, 140a).


G.G. Merlo, *Forme di religiosità nell'Italia occidentale dei secoli XII e XIII*, Vercelli-Cuneo 1997.


Flavia Frauzel

CAMNES (Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies) flavia.frauzel86@gmail.com